Hello friends! Are you having a quiet pre-Christmas weekend? I bet you are not! Who is?

As much as I love Christmas time, the spending, commercial, mercantile side of it is something I truly abhor. I like being with my family, cooking with my mum and having a brandy with my dad, go for walks with the kids, visit my friends and kiss every person I love.

I could do all that in my jeans and cozy cable jumper but hey! To miss the oportunity to make YET another dress for the occasion? Ha,ha!

I´m in a bit of a hurry, so I´ll leave you with the review I made at PATTERN REVIEW

Pattern Description: Partially lined dress (close-fitting through bust) has left back extending into yoke front, no left side shoulder seam, gathered sides and back, back godet, bias armhole and underarm binding, and invisible back and sleeve zippers. Narrow hem.

Pattern Sizing: 6-22. I made a 10

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Just the upper part.

Were the instructions easy to follow? They were easy to follow but difficult to execute. I had to baste a lot, even when the instructions didn't ask for it.

There is something I don't understand: you construct this pretty dress very carefully and then they ask you to make a thin hem...machine stitched? What? I prefer to hand-sew it and make it a thin-invisible hem, thank you very much!

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? The neck line, and the construction. I love Rachel Comey's pattern as I always learn something new , construction-wise. In this particular case you have to sew the lining to the outer fabric while you are constructing the dress. That's new to me! And also quite time-consuming, but the result is fine!

In the dislike side, I don't understand why we also have to have gathers in the lining...that makes those parts bulky, and difficult to sew. Specially along the zipper. Oh! Lots of hand-stitching too!

Fabric Used: A poly-crepe of some kind. I had it in my stash and love the colours, but not the big flowery print. Actually they are so big and washed away that they don't look so bad, after all. But clearly, with a print like that you can hardly notice the details.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: I shortened the skirt a lot, so much so that I had to leave out the godet in the back. I like dresses above the knee, just a personal preference, I think the original length could look good on other people.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I don't think I would sew this again, but I recommend it if you want to practice your gathers, and learn new ways of construction.

Conclusion: I like it, but it is a bit uncomfortable to wear. for example I can't bend my elbows without effort and rising my hands is really hard. It would have been better to use a fabric with a little more give to it.

Back in the saddle: Why is it "in" and not "on"? English idioms are fascinating! Either way, I´m back after a long period of absence. I have to thank each one of you who contacted me via mail for your concern. You already know I´ve been through some major and necessary changes in my life. A bit calmer now, I´ve been able to sit down to sew. I´ve missed it so much!I chose a dress that I think defines my style: Lots of pieces, feminine, elegant and modest... namely: Vogue 1409

If you click on the link you´ll see I´ve used the same kind of fabric combination in the model´s dress. Sober and that goes with a lot of things. The only difference is the length: I added 10 cm on the hem line. The original length was a little too short for me. I´m a clumpsy person and bending down to pick up things that I drop is a constant pastime of mine.

If somebody is thinking about sewing this one, just a couple of things: I didn´t like the method they use for attaching the lining to the dress. I prefer Burda´s method that I explained AQUI/HERE

The hem line is not even: After putting the dress together there was a big length difference: the front was shorter than the back, and on the sides you could see an unevenness that was not looking right. My good friend María helped me with that. She has a great eye for details as well as being one of the neatest and most meticullous sewists ever! Love her!

It all started with the little shirt on your right. A very cute thing from H&M that my mother-in-law bought for my daughter. I just needed the exact same thing in my size...Such luck to be able to sew sometimes, huh? ;)

I made a first version in white HERE, for this one I only modified the curve of the front. It is a self-made pattern.

With the same linen I used on the collar contrast, I made the most famous skirt in the blogosphere: VOGUE 1247

I made it 10 cm. longer like the last one I made AQUI/HERE. I have to remember to make a winter version of this one, because it is so flattering, and comfy and, very importantly, it doesn´t need a lot of fabric!!

I went looking for more linen in coral to make some shorts for Julia, but couldn´t find any...instead I found a very light plumetti cotton, that I would have love to use on a top for myself...but little one first!!

I admit I still don´t work very good with lycra or stretchy fabrics. This bikini fits me worst than any of my RTW bikinis, but I keep on trying.

The pattern I used is a mix of the ones included in PATRONES COSTURA FACIL N 29, I´ve made the bottom part of the one the girl with the "unfortunate" pose is wearing, number 6, but I think it is too big or very underwear-looking. I tried to make the top too, but it ended in the dustbin. I realized my sewing skills were not enough and tried something simpler, like number 12. You can see them in the link up there

The advise Mónica gave me was the "ratio" for the elastic: She told me it works well when the elastic is 80% of the opening dimensions. I´m not good at eye-balling anything so I opted for marking the opening every 5 cm and the elastic every 4 cm, and make those marks meet. It worked better than in previous times.

Gosh! I run so much and still I barely make it for the sewing dates! Well, this time it is my models´ fault! They are such stars! I think it could have been easier to ask Jon Kortajarena and Andres Velencoso to model the shirts for me than my two men! Fortunately my very cooperative daughter modelled her dad´s shirt.

For the CASTING TELARIA we had to create something nautical, the best part is that I had already asked Miren for this cotton fabric OKI OUTREMER that has white, red and blue in it, so perfect! Stripes would have been nautical-er but still those are nautical colours, right?Sure thing I won´t lost sight of them at the fair, they will be a couple of flags on two legs

La camisa de padre está hecha con los patrones de ESTE/THIS libro de patrones japonés de camisas. Muy informativo, dos tipos de camisa, un montón de opciones de cuello...estoy encantada. Fué un premio de otro de los retos de Miren y desde luego fué un regalazo. Lo único que le veo es que de talla va un poco pequeño, pero eso con subir a la talla siguiente, arreglado.The dad´s shirt has been made with the patterns that come in ESTE/THIS book. I love the book, it is so informative, a lot of options...really love it. It was a price I won in the "Sewing for Men" challenge also hosted by Telaria. The only "but" about this book is the sizing, I think they are too small.

I like challenges. All kinds. Sewing and sport challenges being my favourites...so I just had to join in Fehr Trade ´s SPRING RACE CHALLENGE.

I usually run two races a year. One is in New Years Eve (mainly to avoid the cooking) and the other one is the yearly popular race held in Algeciras as means to start the Feria, in the most healthy way...It all goes downhill from there, what with all the food and drink at the fair...It also marks the end of school!

I bought this poly-something fabric to make a dress for a wedding. In the end I am unable to attend, but the fabric was already at home. All 4.5 meters of green and drapey stuff.

Since I started the Crafty classes I wanted to try a circle skirt, so that´s what I did.

After all the setbacks, I realized I could have get away with a gathered skirt instead, but I never take the easy way, do I?

This has so much drape that once sewn the bias parts were much longer than the grain bits, by 10-15 cm.

I let it set for three days on my dress form them cut all the same length. Well, it is still growing somehow!

Before hemming I thought that putting a zipper was going to be a hellish experience so I made the back into the front, interface the whole length and put some hammer-on snaps. I think this was the best thing I could have done!

I had to add an invisible snap between the first and second, because it opened too much.